Wednesday, January 13, 2010

Garcia Luna gets a mention...

The DEA and State Dept. love to celebrate big narco-busts with high-fiving 'mission accomplished' statements, thanking the "Government of Mexico" (why is government always capitalized? internally, they abbreviate it GOM, it's just odd) for unprecedented cooperation.

Today was no exception, following the capture of El Teo. What did strike me as different, however, was Ambassador Carlos Pascual's statement, which mentions federal Police Chief Genaro Garcia Luna by name, congratulating him.

I've rarely seen Garcia Luna publicly acknowldeged before; I have however heard/read DEA higher-ups publicly express their "concern" over allegations that he has been linked to the Beltran Leyva brothers.

I don't have time to research whether he has indeed been mentioned and I just missed it, and I have no qualms about throwing out some speculative BS, so... Could it be that since the fall of the top Beltran Leyva brothers, the US doesn't have to worry about Garcia Luna suddently being exposed as corrupt anymore, and can call him an ally?

Ah, the list of questions to ask Garcia Luna when I finally get an interview with him grows and grows... While the actual chances of getting an interview with him shrink and shrink...

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About Me

I'm a 39-year-old freelance journalist/author, until recently based in Mexico City. I've written for Newsweek (with whom I was an editor from 2000 to 2007) Slate.com, Foreign Policy, Jane's Intelligence Weekly, FDI magazine, the Sunday Times, World Politics Review, Soldier of Fortune, The News (Mexico City), The Sun, Nogales International and the Haitian Times. I've written two books on Mexico's drug war, "The Last Narco," published September 2010, and "Hasta El Ultimo Dia," published in March 2012. I hold a Master's Degree in War Studies from the University of Glasgow.
I have provided commentary on the drug war for CNN, NPR, the BBC, The New York Times, the Christian Science Monitor, AOL News, CTV (Canada), Xinhua, El Universal and Reforma (Mexico) and several other publications and major news outlets.
I can be reached for requests for commentary/talks on the Mexican drug war at mbeithpublic@gmail.com
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